N361KS

On May 10, 2008, a Schleicher ASK-21 (N361KS) was involved in an incident near Tehachapi, CA. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's inadequate preflight procedures and failure to check the spoiler control position, which resulted in the inadvertent deployment of the spoilers during takeoff. A contributing factor was the pilot's misinterpretation of the tow pilot's instructions.

The glider was being towed to altitude by a tow airplane. During the takeoff initial climb, the spoiler handle was not locked and the spoilers momentarily extended twice and although the pilot felt that he had to input forward control forces, he did not visually check the position of the spoiler control handle. The tow pilot then gave a rudder wave signal to the pilot telling him to check the spoilers; however, because the spoilers appeared retracted when the pilot verified their position, the glider pilot misinterpreted the tow pilot and released the glider from the tow airplane at approximately 100 feet above ground level. The glider pilot force-landed the glider in a field. During the landing, the empennage broke from the remainder of the glider.

This incident is documented in NTSB report SEA08CA129. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N361KS.